The cooling of system components plays an important role in electronic devices, such as, for example, a computer system. Through the cooling, overheating of the components is prevented and thus the functionality of the individual components and interruption-free operation of the device is guaranteed.
As a rule, the cooling of the system components, such as, for example, of a CPU or a power-supply unit in a computer system, is performed by a cooling system made from one or more fan ventilators. By means of the ventilators, an air flow is generated through which the components of the device are cooled and the heated air is transported out of the device.
Likewise, a so-called ion cooling for electronic devices is known. For ion cooling, as a rule, an ion cooling system is integrated into the system in which the conventional ventilators are replaced by an element that generates an air flow.
The cooling system is made, for example, from one or more ion coolers that have two grounded grids between which an arrangement of wires is located that are at a high positive and negative voltage. Ambient air molecules are ionized on the electrodes by the high voltage that is applied. The positively charged ions move in the voltage drop to the negatively charged cathodes and collide on the way with additional air molecules. In this way, an ion flow is generated. This ion flow generates an air flow due to the collisions with neutral air molecules on the surface of the components of the electronic device and thus provides cooling of the components. The grounded grids are provided to discharge the generated ions on them as completely as possible and in this way to free the air from ions again to a large extent.
The disadvantage in cooling an electronic device by means of an ion cooling system is that, despite the discharging of ions by the grounded grids, the air flow cooling the components can have a defined degree of ionization by means of which the electronic components can be charged and also damaged. In particular, an ion cooling system that is not functioning optimally or that is not set optimally can result, in some areas, in an ionization of the air flow that is too strong, which can have a strong negative effect on an interrupt-free operation of the electronic device.
The effect of the ionized air flow on the components can also depend on the ambient properties of the device, such as, for example, the air humidity or the dust concentration in the air within the device.
Due to the electrostatic charging of the components caused by the ionization of the air flow, critical voltages that can lead to the breakdown of individual components or the device itself can result.